ANATHEM

by Neal Stephenson
 
Anathem is almost 1,000 pages long, and way outside my comfort zone of usual genres. It took me almost 200 pages to start enjoying it, but once I was in, I was ALL IN!  The book is an incredibly crafted work of what the author himself calls “speculative fiction.” This means it takes place on an imagined planet with an imagined history, vocabulary, political landscape, etc.  Having said that, if you can get past the made-up words, and allow yourself to be confused for a little while, the planet Arden begins to resemble Earth in more ways than one.
 
As an example of the made-up vocabulary, the title is neither the word anthem nor anathema, but somehow combines the two to mean a ceremony performed to excommunicate a member of the monastery-like communities known as “concents” or “maths.”  On Arden the world is divided between the population inside the walls of the numerous concents, and those outside, or “extramurous.”  I’m sure you’re getting the idea!
 
The plot mostly follows one young avout (monk) as his predictable world is completely upended and his entire community is forced to reexamine their way of life and work with the outsiders to solve a potentially world-ending catastrophe. As crazy as that sounds, it honestly never felt like science fiction to me. In a way it reads more like historical fiction.  If you are up for the challenge this book presents, your effort will be greatly rewarded.(Lily)